More than 30 years since I started reading Edgar Rice Burroughs,
I lost my innocence, so to speak, at the 2005 convention in Oak Park, Illinois,
my first Dum-Dum.

Oh, I had my chances.

I attended my first science fiction convention, which happened to be
the MidAmericaCon WorldCon in Kansas City, Mo., in 1976. I understand the
Dum-Dums were held concurrently with the science fiction world conventions
but I am not sure when that stopped; although I’m sure Bill Hillman
has that somewhere on his
4,000 Web pages. I never attended any Dum-Dums in 10 years and more
that I attended world conventions.

Since the late ‘90s or so, I became aware of these conventions of Burroughs
fans but they always were far away from my Chicago-area home (obviously,
I didn’t hear about Louisville, Ky. in 2003). I was tempted though to say
heck with the distance.

When my friend, Dave Gorecki, told me around November 2004 that
the Dum-Dum was coming to Chicago or Oak Park, I was overjoyed. My first
thought was what hotel in Oak Park is big enough to host it? I’ve lived
near Oak Park for 34 years and there’s no Hilton, Howard Johnson or anything
even close.

I confirmed the Oak Park selection, a natural because of the ERB connection,
through Bill Hillman’s ERBzine
site. I immediately called friends to excitedly tell them what is coming.

Because
I am a freelance writer for Pioneer Press, I also told the editor of its
Oak Leaves newspaper that the Dum-Dum is coming to Oak Park for the first
time. He agreed I should write an article. I interviewed Jerry Spannraft,
Frank Lipo of the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest,
and officials of The Write Inn and
the Oak Park tourism bureau. That
article appeared Dec. 22, 2004. It was illustrated with a photo of
Denny
Miller as Tarzan, reproduced from the historical society’s archives.

I kept in touch with Jerry and wrote a second
article two weeks before the convention.

My editor decided though that he did not want me to cover the convention
for the newspaper.

Dave and I arrived in plenty of time for the 9 a.m. Friday opening time
for the dealers’ room. We found plenty of quality materials for sale, but
also high prices.

Besides the expensive hardcover Burroughs novels, some of the items
that caught my attention were checks signed by Burroughs for $100 and up
sale price; reproduction and some original movie posters and lobby cards;
original, unused dust jackets in the area of $1,200; plenty of fanzines;
a 1970s Chamber of Commerce booklet from Tarzana, Calif., for $50; biographies
of some of the actors who played Tarzan; and lots of books.

I
bought a copy, for $5, of the Burroughs Bulletin New Series 41 about
Tarzan
and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-Bal-Ja the Golden Lion, of which
I‘m lucky enough to own two copies in first state, and a signed copy of
Herman Brix’s/Bruce Bennett’s biography Please Don’t Call Me Tarzan
for $35 ($20 for the unsigned hardcover) It was signed Herman
Brix and Bruce Bennett in green ink from a Flare-type pen. But
at 99, Herman will not be around many years longer unfortunately to autograph
books.

I ran into Jerry Spannraft, whom I recognized from the photo in ERBzine,
and many others whose names or faces I recognized: Bill Hillman, taking
pictures; Augey, the owner of Centuries and Sleuths bookstore in
nearby Forest Park; and Bob Garcia, a friend, publisher, graphic
artist, book dealer and former member of the West Suburban Science Fiction
Society I started in 1977 and that lasted about 10 years; among others
Convention members came from France, England and all over America.

I went home for a while but left around 3 to pick up my friend, Randy
Kryn, from his Oak Park home for the plaque dedication at Burroughs’
former office at 1020 W. North Blvd. at 4 o’clock. Randy was involved in
the Oak Park Festival in 1978 that opened up Burroughs’ former home
at 700 N. Linden Ave. I was lucky enough to go inside that home and write
an article for the Forest Park Review newspaper. If only I saved the photos
I took that day! They may be in my "archive." Randy also convinced me in
1978 to buy the huge hardcover of Irwin Porges’ biography of ERB.

We arrived early for the plaque dedication to find there is no 1020
North Blvd. We killed time in the nearby Pumpkin Moon store that
did not have any ERB or Tarzan items in its knickknacks.

At five minutes to 4, we went back out and found a huge crowd around
1024 W. North Blvd. I wonder what passers-by thought? Frank Lipo
talked about ERB’s times in the office and an Oak Park trustee read
a proclamation declaring Aug. 7 to 14 as Edgar Rice Burroughs Week in
Oak Park. Randy said he wondered if he would see a friend with whom
he used to correspond and sure enough he saw Bob O'Malley and they
renewed their friendship.

This building, and others along that block of North Boulevard, consists
of a store on the first floor and offices on the second. I was privileged
for the first time to hear George McWhorter give the war cry of
the bull ape.

George McWhorter

Randy Kryn ~ Bill Hillman ~
Ken Manson

We went inside of 1024 and walked up to the second floor. Frank talked
of the difficulty determining which office was Burroughs’. We took turns
looking at and taking photos of the plaque and the drawing above it. The
plaque states:

Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and author of otherfantastic tales of adventure and science fiction,rented an officein this building in 1918 and 1919. Among his accomplishmentsduring his Oak Park years from 1914-19, Burroughs wrote 17stories, saw seven books and 14 magazine stories published,and had three movies produced.Marker placed August 2005 by The Historical Societyof Oak Park and River Forest & R.P. Fox and Associates.

Bob, Randy and I ate at a nearby Chinese restaurant and drove to the Pleasant
Home for the Friday night reception. Members socialized, drank wine or
water, ate cheese or slices of melons. We took turns going up in groups
of seven to the second-floor exhibit titled Tarzan, Mars and the Fertile
Mind of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I had seen the exhibit before but wonder
what convention members thought of this exhibit and its amazing collection
of items. I thought "Oak Park was the right place for this convention."

The exhibit was crammed with panels on the four homes where Burroughs
lived in Oak Park and his office; pulp magazines that contained his stories;
torn-off magazine covers (aargh!); photos of every movie Tarzan and Jane
with many autographed; a copy of every book title written by ERB; knives
and a shield used in Tarzan movies; newspaper clippings; and much more.

At the reception, I also saw a Bibliophiles member and friend, Jim
Hadac, whom I lost touch with some 20 years ago after he moved to Japan
to teach. He now lives in the suburb next to me.

We broke up at 8 and I gave George McWhorter and Bob a ride to
the Write Inn and turned in for the night.

I came back to the dealers’ room Saturday morning and purchased four
issues of ERB-dom for $5 each. I also brought my copy of The Pearl Harbor
Murders for Max Allan Collins to sign. He inscribed it, "Hi,
Ken, all the best from one ERB fan to another," with his name and the date.

Shortly before 2 p.m. I came into the church chapel where the auction
was being held to find no one else in there. The auction items were lined
up in tables on the front, on a front pew and on a piano. I thought if
no one else is here to bid, I’m going to pick up some nice items for next
to nothing. But a good 30 people came in right at 2.

Some of the items up for auction included reproduction posters; six
Dum-Dum 2005 T-shirts in sizes 2XL and 3XL; three ERB signed checks; a
Rex
Maxon comic strip; a display of 10 Tarzan belt buckles; books and lots
more. Highlights to me were a specially produced Tarzan Junior book
that is slightly bigger than the one in Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle,
that sold for $250 in auction; and the original Greg Phillips oil
painting used in Dum-Dum 2005 material that I thought was worth more than
the $75 auction price. But since I brought only $20, I bought only a Dum-Dum
T-shirt for $5, half what it was being sold for in the dealers’ room.

The Phillips painting shows Burroughs sitting at a desk with pen in
hand and three pieces of paper with writing in front of him. An ink
well also is on the desk. A file cabinet is on his right behind him with
what looks like two manila folders on top. A large window is behind him.
The wall is green. Rising up above Burroughs’ head is a Tarzan figure with
a knife in his right hand and looking like he is ready to give a war cry.

So, when the auction ended, I said goodbye to the fans and convention
for the year.

I enjoyed the convention, meeting people I had only heard about and
thought the fans were very friendly.

My one disappointment was that the Tarzan
Junior book was not ready for distribution at the convention to
members.

I also had hoped to meet Mickey Spillane, who I guess I now can
say was to be the mystery guest, and Danton
Burroughs, but I believe their health prevented them from coming.

I also was happy and surprised that five members of my former West Suburban
Science Fiction Society -- myself, Randy, Dave, Bob and Jim -- attended
the convention. Since the event was held in Oak Park where meetings had
been held, maybe I shouldn’t have been.

Hopefully I’ll attend again when the Dum-Dum returns to the Midwest.

AddendumI thought I would list the materials that were in my registration packet:

One badge; 2-by-4-inch metal pin with Dum-Dum logo; four-page booklet
from the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest about its Burroughs
exhibit; a rubber-banded packet of at least 50 Burroughs Bibliophiles bookmarks
with a list of ERB books on one side and information about joining the
society on the other; a map compiled by Greg Phillips of Chicago
and Oak Park showing sites related to the life of Edgar Rice Burroughs
from 1875 to 1919; a ticket for the banquet; a reproduction of the words
on the plaque dedicated at Burroughs’ Oak Park office; a copy of the proclamation
declaring Burroughs Week in Oak Park and a copy of the Village Board agenda
listing the meeting item; a four-page program on slick paper with a four-color
Phillips cover listing the events of the Dum-Dum; a piece of paper with
my membership number on it to raise for bidding during the auction;
a welcome letter from the Oak Park Area Convention and Visitors Bureau;
a pink sheet from the bureau listing summer 2005 events in Oak Park; an
Oak Park Area Visitors Guide; a booklet on the Oak Park and River Forest
Wall of Fame mentioning Burroughs on the first inside page (after Ernest
Hemingway but before Frank Lloyd Wright); and a list from the
convention bureau of six nearby restaurants.